Episode 3.6
Episode 3.6 is the sixth episode of the third series of Primeval. It was broadcast as For the Birds in North America, Alle Vögel sind schon da (All the Birds are Already There) in Germany and Les Prédateurs (The Predators) in France. Full synopsis Danny, Connor, Abby and Sarah are hiding out in an abandoned cabin, dressed in formal evening wear and listening to 1930s music. Sarah reads out several unnerving extracts from an old journal: "There's no one left. The others are all dead. It's happening again. They're here...!" . As Danny asks what is meant by they, an animalistic screech sounds. Danny tells Connor and the ladies to get out, then goes to investigates: as he enters a clearing, a large flightless bird advances on him and attacks... 8 hours before, Danny is testing the ARC's security with the help of Becker. Unknown to the team, Christine Johnson is watching them using surveillance cameras from her private research facility. Johnson is furious to discover the Artifact she has been searching for is now in the ARC: determined to obtain it, Johnson assembles a military force to storm the ARC... Meanwhile, having arrived at the ARC with Lester, (who is determined to prevent information about their living arrangement getting out, as well as being infuriated at the fact Sid and Nancy have destroyed his confidential paperwork), Connor and Sarah begin experimenting with the artifact. On exposing it to light, they discover that it is a model for the prediction of anomalies, just like Cutter's Matrix: before they can experiment further, Danny and Becker discover Johnson's surveillance equipment and realise she is after the artifact. With Johnson's soldiers storming the ARC as they speak, Becker creates a diversion while Danny, Connor, Abby and Sarah escape with the artifact through the ARC's ventilation shafts. Meanwhile, once his sister has left him alone in her flat, Jack invites several friends around for a poker game. Things go badly wrong when the stakes include Rex... After narrowly evading Johnson's soldiers, the team find themselves on the run with nowhere to go. However, before Johnson strips him of control of the ARC, Lester manages to get a member of the ARC's staff to send co-ordinates for a safe house to the team (he also promises Johnson "This isn't over!"). Johnson swiftly forces Becker and the rest of the ARC's staff to accept her as in charge, then orders her soldiers to find the team and the artifact. The team, meanwhile, find that their safe house is an abandoned cabin from the 1930s, surrounded by unexploded landmines. The team swiftly make preperations in case Johnson's soldiers come looking for them, then explore their surroundings: while looking for firewood, Connor finds a military bunker, connected to a number of loud speakers, containing a back-up generator and a reinforced cage for observing...something. They also find a coded journal, which Sarah begins working on: unknown to them, as they leave the bunker, an Anomaly opens within it... Back at the ARC, the anomaly is detected and Johnson sends her soldiers to investigate: Becker insists he go, but Johnson refuses, believing his loyalty to the team to be dangerous. Meanwhile, the team find themselves trapped inside the cabin while an unknown animal, which Abby identifies as some form of bird, makes a screeching distress call (this is the opening scene). Suddenly, something triggers the trip wire that Danny set earlier: Danny tells Connor and the ladies to get out the back while he goes to investigate: however, Sarah and Abby find the anomaly in the bunker and decide to make for the safety of their car. Danny, investigating the source of the noise, comes under attack from a vicious Terror Bird, which proceeds to give chase: the team narrowly avoid it after a climactic car chase, where Danny fends the creature off with a metal pipe. After losing the Terror Bird, Connor abruptly crashes the car into a tree: though no one is badly hurt, Connor is left trapped and concussed. Danny tells Abby and Sarah to go back to the cabin while he helps Connor: unfortunately, the ladies run into a large pack of Terror Birds that give chase and Danny and Connor swiftly find themselves in the same predicament. The team flee into a minefield, pursued by one of the birds: fortunately, the creature is killed when it steps on a landmine. After getting through the field, the team are ambushed by Johnson's soldiers, who have captured the artifact: however, one of the soldiers is killed by an attacking Terror Bird and the others are killed when their car sets off a mine, while the blast debris also decapitates the bird. The team, having recovered the artifact, flee back to the cabin. Upon learning of her soldiers' failure, Johnson orders Becker to recover the artifact. He advises her to inform the Minister of what's going on, but she coldly insults the Minister, calling him "a Whitehall glovepuppet with the IQ of a root vegetable". Meanwhile, the team desperately barricade themselves in the cabin as the Phorusrhacids attack the cabin. After narrowly repelling an attack, Danny comes up with an idea: he grabs a recording of the Phorusrhacids' distress call, then makes for the bunker. After narrowly avoiding being torn apart by the birds, Danny reaches the bunker and plays the record, distracting the birds who are seconds from killing Connor and Sarah. The call lures the birds back to the bunker, where they abruptly go back through the anomaly: Danny evades the birds by hiding in the reinforced cage in the bunker. Unfortunately, the trouble isn't over: the team are arrested by Becker, who claims to be just "following orders" and taken back to the ARC. Johnson, delighted to get her hands on the artifact, threatens to charge them all with stealing government property, when Lester suddenly reappears, and calmly orders Johnson to leave. Johnson furiously orders Becker to remove Lester from the ARC, but he refuses. They then delightedly inform a horrified Johnson that they recorded her insulting the Minister and sent a copy of the recording to him. Lester is reinstated as head of the ARC, and Johnson is forced to leave for a meeting with the Minister, who is said to be very upset (but as she leaves, she coldly snarls to Lester "This isn't over!"). The team and the rest of the ARC's staff applaud Lester's reappointment, and Becker gets his reward in the form of thanks from the team and a kiss from Sarah. Cast and crew Appearance Characters *Connor Temple *Abby Maitland *Danny Quinn *Hilary Becker *Christine Johnson *Joseph Wilder *James Lester *Sarah Page *Captain Ross *Jack Maitland *Tony *The Minister *Others Creatures *Terror Bird *Coelurosauravus *Rex Locations *Anomaly Research Centre *Christine Johnson's Headquarters *Abandoned War Cabin Objects and technology *Anomaly Detection Device **Hand-held Anomaly Detector *The Artifact *The Matrix Organisations *Anomaly Research Centre *Christine Johnson's Military Trivia *The German title of this episode is Alle Vögel sind schon da, referring to a folksong of the same name by Hoffmann von Fallersleben, which translates to All the Birds are Already There. *This episodes uses unused footage from Episode 3.2, when the "8 hours earlier" words are shown when inside the ARC, Nick Cutter, Becker and Sarah can be seen in the lab talking about Helen. *This is one of two episodes in Series 3 not to feature a creature from the future, the other being Episode 3.7. *Juliet Aubrey is credited in the opening titles despite Helen Cutter not appearing. *Ben Mansfield replaces Lucy Brown in the opening titles. Errors *Because unused footage from Episode 3.2 is used, Nick Cutter appears despite being deceased at this point. Story connections *Some Terror Birds returns in Episode 4.7, and , although they appear to be different species. *In Episode 3.7, Tony still has possession of Rex. *In Episode 3.8: **Jack losing Rex in a poker game is mentioned by Abby after Jack told her. **Connor and Sarah try to use light to activate the Artifact again. Category:Stories Category:Series 3 Stories Category:Episodes